Equilibrium device for a scale



Jan. 8, 1935. w. s. DIESENBERG El AL 1,937,286

EQUILIBRIUM DEVICE FOR A SCALE Filed May 11, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 8, 1935. w. e. DIESENBERG El AL 1,937,286

EQUILIBRIUM DEVICE FOR A SCALE Filed May 11, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 8, 1935 PATENT OFFICE EQUILIBRIUM DEVICE FOR A SCALE William G. Diesenberg, Queens Village, N. Y., and John D. Johnston, Belford, N. J., assignors, by mesne assignments, to International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York p Application my 11, 1933, Serial No. 670,412

10 Claims.

This case relates to weighing scales combined with weight printing means.

The weight printing means should not be operated until the scale has come to rest under a load or has, in scale parlance, reached equilibrium position. Otherwise, the printing means will not print the correct weight.

The object of this invention is to provide a simplified and novel control for the printing means which will automatically prevent operation of the latter until the scale has reached equilibrium position.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will be obvious from the following particular description of one form of mechanism embodying the invention or from an inspection of the accompanying drawings; and the invention also constitutes certain new and novel features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the drawings: I

Fig. 1 is a front view of the scale with the printing attachment and its equilibrium control.

Fig. 2 is a detail view combined with a circuit diagram of the equilibrium control, and

Fig. 3 is a section through the air dash pot timer of the equilibrium control.

The equilibrium control may be applied to any suitable printing attachment of a scale, but for purposes of the present disclosure, it has been shown as applied to the printing means disclosed in Patent No.- 1,800,850.

In brief, thisprinting means comprises a fiat disk 10 (a section of which is shown in Fig. 1) provided with type numerals and graduations corresponding to the weight characters on the stationary ring chart 11 scanned by the pointer 12. The printing disk 10 is carried by the shaft 13 of the pointer; and moves with the pointer in response to a load and in accordance with the magnitude of the load.

To take an impression from the printing disk, a pair of members 15 and 16 located at opposite sides of the disk are pivoted on a stud 17 secured to the frame. The two members are normally held apart by a spring 18 between them but when forced towards each other, they press a ticket 19 and inking ribbon 20 into contact with the type on the disk 10, thereby effecting printing of the weight on the ticket. To force the members 15 and 16 towards the disk, a pivoted handle 21 has cam engagement with the lower ends of the members 15 and 16, as fully disclosed in aforesaid patent. -When the handle is moved from dotted to full line position (Fig. 1) against the resistance of a spring 24, it cams the lower ends of the members 15 and 16 towards each other to move the members towards the disk 10 and effect printing on ticket 19.

If the handle 21 were operated to cause printing before disk 10 came to rest under a load, then the impression taken from the disk would not be a correct indication of the load. In order to automatically prevent operation of the handle until the scale has reached equilibrium and the disk 10 therefore comes to rest, the following means are provided:

The load from the platform and base levers (not shown) is transmitted through a draft rod 26 to the intermediate beam 27 which through tape 28 actuates the pendulum system 29 and the indicator shaft 13, previously referred to. The intermediate beam has pivoted to it by the usual depending connection 30 the piston 31 of a dash pot 32 containing a fluid such as glycerine. The ordinary purpose of the dash pot in a scale is to dampen vibration of the movable parts to bring them to a stop without unnecessary delay.

Connected by upper and lower ducts to the dash'pot 32 is an auxiliary, narrower, dash pot 33, having a light plunger 34 pivotally connected through its rod 35 with the outer end of a horizontal arm 36 of a bell lever pivoted at 37 to a fixed bracket 38 and having a vertical arm 39. The movement of the piston 31 of the main dash pot-32 will cause a greater and therefore moresensitive vibratory movement of the plunger 34 of the auxiliary dash pot. Accordingly, the bell lever operated by the plunger 34 will correspondingly be set vibrating whenever the intermediate beam 27 and the parts connected thereby are 'in motion. The arm 39 of the bell lever carries a spring strip 40 opposite faces of which are provided with contact studs 41 for alternately engaging the contact studs 42 at opposite sides of the strip 40. The studs 42 are adjustably threaded into the parallel cars 43 at the upper end of bracket 38. The arm 39 of the bell lever is acted on by opposed springs which tend to maintain the arm in a position in which the contact studs 41 on the arm are free of either of contact studs 42. The outer ends of the springs are secured to screws 44 adjustably located on the horizontal part 45 carried by the bracket 38.

Whenever a stud 41 engages a stud 42, it closes the following circuit: from the terminal of a power source P, through line 48, strip 40, stud 41, stud 42, line 49 or 50 (depending on which stud 42 is engaged by stud 41), line 51, through solenoid 52, and line 53 to the terminal of the carries a plunger 56 located in an air dash pot 5'? having a vent 58,- the effective size of which is variable by a screw 59 threaded into the dash pot.

The purpose of the dash pot 57 is to retard the descent of the solenoid core 55 until the solenoid has definitely been deenergized, that is, until current surges through the-solenoid have ceased. This will occur only whenthestrip comes to rest which means that the scalehas come to equilibrium. By adjusting screw 59 the retarding effect of the dash pot 5'7 will .be-varie'd so" that more or less time will elapse after thedeenergization of solenoid 52 before the c0re'55 completes its descent. r

The upper end of core; 55 is provided with a horizontallyprojecting pin 61 which in its lowermost position bears on the top of an arm- 62- of a lever 63 pivoted arts to the frame and holds this lever-against clockwise operation by a spring 65. The free end of the lever remote from the pin 61 is formed with a projection 66 adapted to fit into a groove 67 in the sleeve 68W1il0h pivots the handle 21 on a stud 6 9 carried by the frame. When the solenoid core 55 is moved upwardly by energization of the solenoid 52,-pin 61 is released from lever 63 and permits-spring 65 to move the lever. 63 to dotted line-position shown in Fig. 2 and projection 66 into groove 67 of sleeve 68. This prevents operationof the sleeve and the connected handleZ-l. Thus as long as thesolenoid isenergized which means that the scalehas not yet reached equilibrium, the projection 56 will be in the groove 67 and printing handle 21 will be held against operation. ;When the scale reaches equilibrium, the core 53 will descend and pin61 will rock thelever 63 against the resistance of spring 65 to. raiseprojection 66 out of thegroove 67 and permit the printing handle 21 to operate. H r h r h brief summary of the operation of weighing and printing-a record of the weight of all-load follows; a load placed on the platform of the scale. win -through draft rod26 rock intermediate 1ever 27 counterclockwise which through tape 28. actuates the pendulumsystem 29 to counterbalance .the load and the pointer 12 to indicate the load on. chart 11.,The typedisk 10 being on the shaft 1310f the pointer will move correspondingly an amountproportional to the .load,thus locatingtype-at theprintin-g position between the members 15 and 16 of thenumerical value indicated by the pointer on. the chart 11. The movement Ofthe above scale 'parts upon application of a load-to thescale causes surging in the main and auxiliary dashpots 32 and 33 thereby setting the contact strip 40 in vibration. Con.- tact studs 41 of the strip will alternately engage thefixed contact studs 42 to close -a circuit throughsolenoid 52 which causes its core 53 to release the pin'61ffrom lever 63, projection 66 of which "isthereupon.v moved into the groove 6'7 of the sleeve 68 connected to the printing handle 21. The latter. is locked inthis manner until the scale parts come to rest, the solenoid 52 then being deenergized and core 53 permitted to descend. The descent of the core will be retarded by dashpot 57 to: make sure that the scale has reached asteady rather than-a momentary equilibrium position. When the core has reached the limit of its descent, the pin 61 will engage the lever 63 to unlock the handle 21. The operator is now able to rock the latter from dotted to full line position to effect printing of the weight on the ticket 19. h t t While there has been shown-and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a single modification, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions: and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its operation'may be made'bythose skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. Itis'the intention therefore to be limited only as indicated. by the. scope of the following claims:

What is' claimed is: 1. In-a" scale having weighing mechanism, re-

I cording means set under control of the weighing 2. In a scale having weighing:=meehanism;re--

cording means setunder control of the weighing mechanism, a manual actuator for the recording means including an operating-shaft, amechanical detentactingon a part connected to and movable with the operating shaft means forautomatically' sensing the-equilibrium condition of the weighing mechanism, an electrical. releasing device for said detent, and an electrical circuit controlled by said equilibrium sensing meansgfor operating the releasing device to automatically releasethe detent from control of the shaft to permit operation of the latterto effect a recording operation by the recording means.

;3.In a scale having weighing mechanism,- recording means set under control of theweighing mechanism, an operating shaft to operate the recording means tcmake a record-a pivoted detent for said shaft, means for automatically sensing the equilibrium condition of the weighing mechanism, an electrical releasing devicefor the detent, and an electrical circuit controlled by the equilibrium sensing device for operating the recording meansset under control ofthe Weighing mechanism, an operating shaft for effecting recording operation by the recording means, a pivoted lever having means at one end in detaining cooperation with the shaft, a member coacting with the lever at the opposite end for rocking the lever to releasethe detaining end of the lever from eifecton the shaft, an electrical operating device for actuating the member, a circuit for said device,and an automatic equilibrium sensing means for the weighing mechanism for controlling the circuit.

5. In a scale having weighing mechanism, recording means settable under control of the weighing mechanism, an operatingshaft to effeet recording by the recording means, a solenoid,

a core operated thereby, a mechanical connection between the core and the shaft for preventing operation of the shaft, a circuit for the solenoid, and means for automatically sensing equilibrium of the weighing mechanism and controlling said circuit accordingly to cause release by the mechanical connection of the shaft to permit the latter to operate the recording means.

6. In a scale having weighing mechanism, recording means settable under control thereof, an operating shaft to effect recording by the recording means, a solenoid, a core therefor, a circuit for energizing the solenoid to raise the core, a mechanical detent between the core and shaft operated into detaining cooperation with the shaft under control of the core when the latter rises, and an equilibrium sensing device for breaking said circuit when the weighing mechanism attains equilibrium to deenergize the solenoid and cause descent of the core, the core upon its descent operating the detent to release the shaft for operation.

'7. In a scale such as defined in claim 6, said detent comprising a lever having one end for locking the shaft, means constantly tending to rock the lever in a direction to lock the shaft, said core having an element engaging the end of the lever opposite the detaining end when the core is in lower position to prevent operation of the lever by the last-named means, said element releasing the lever upon rise of the core to cause shaft detaining operation of the lever by the lastnamed means.

8. In a scale having weighing mechanism, recording means controlled thereby, operating means for effecting recording operation of the recording means, a mechanical detaining mechanism for the operating means, a device for mechanically operating the detaining mechanism to release it from said operating means, means for sensing the equilibrium condition of the weighing mechanism to control said device for automatically releasing the detaining mechanism from the shaft, and means for retarding release of the detaining mechanism until a lapse of time has occurred after the attainment of equilibrium by the weighing mechanism.

9. In a scale having weighing mechanism, recording means controlled thereby, an operating shaft for effecting recording by the recording means, means for automatically sensing the equilibrium condition of the scale, detaining means for preventing operation of the shaft, and means controlled by the equilibrium sensing means for automatically releasing the detaining means from the shaft after a lapse of time subsequent to the weighing mechanism reaching equilibrium.

10. In a scale having automatic weighing mechanism variably positioned in accordance with the load; the combination of recording means set under control of the weighing mechanism, operating means for causing recording operation of said means, a lock for normally latching said operating means against operation, means for automatically sensing the equilibrium condition of the weighing mechanism, a circuit operated by the equilibrium sensing means upon the scale at taining equilibrium, and means thereupon controlled by the operation of the circuit for releasing the lock from said recorder operating means to permit operation of the latter to effect a recording operation.

WILLIAM G. DIESENBERG. JOHN D. JOHNSTON. 

